BNT, the Bulgarian national broadcaster, have confirmed the dates for their national selection, for the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, in Vienna.

BNT confirmed fifteen artists will participate during the first show, while the third show will see the final competing artist present three songs. The three shows, as described by Eurovoix, are:

Show One: Saturday 24th January

In the first show, 15 artists will perform a song from their back catalogue, from which the public and jury will vote. The five jury members will score each performance between 1 and 5 points, while the public can vote once on the BNT website for their favourite. The public’s favourite will receive 15 points, with their least favourite receiving 1 point. The maximum score available at this stage is 40 points. The top seven highest scoring acts will qualify for the second phase. Should there be a tie for 7th, then all the tied acts in 7th will also qualify for the second phase.

Show Two: Saturday 31st January

In the second show, the top seven artists will perform again, with the artists again performing a song from their back catalogue. The jurors will once again award between 1 and 5 points to each artist. The public will also vote again. The public vote will award 7 points to the artist with the most votes, 6 to the artist with the second highest number of votes, all the way down to 1 point for the artist with the fewest votes. The artist who receives the highest combined points total will represent Bulgaria at Eurovision 2026 and will progress to the third stage.

Show Three: Saturday 28th February

In the third show, the selected artist will perform three songs that have been created specifically for the Eurovision Song Contest. A jury formed of 10 persons will vote on the songs alongside the public. Each juror will award between 1 and 3 points to the songs. Their points will then be converted into 3 points for the song with the most points and 1 point to the song with the least points. The public’s votes will also be converted to 3 points for their favourite to 1 point for their least favourite. The winning song will be the one that receives the most points.

Let us know what you think about Bulgaria and the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest – either in the comments below or on our FACEBOOK, BLUESKY, TWITTER, YOUTUBE, INSTAGRAM and TIKTOK pages.

The Eurovision Community, which Eurovision Ireland are a part of, celebrates diversity through music. Please keep your comments respectful. We will not tolerate racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, body-shaming or any other derogatory or hostile language.

Author: Richard Taylor

Source: Eurovoix